North Coast goes Down Under on tourism trip with National Trust

Esther Dobbin from the Giant’s Causeway will be bringing the best of local attractions to places like Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Speaking ahead of the trip, Esther said: “The Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge continue to be huge motivators for visits to the island of Ireland.

“We are seeing huge interest from places like Australia, New Zealand, China and other new and emerging markets, so this is a huge opportunity to meet with some really influential travel trade and tell them about the world class scenery and the warm welcome we offer here in Northern Ireland.

“I’ll be very proud to be there representing such special local places.”

The sales mission – which takes place from 14-21 November – will target some 300 influential travel agents, tour operators, airlines and travel journalists.

The objective is to engage with travel professionals in the four cities currently selling Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland, or who have strong potential to sell the destination – and to encourage them to extend their island of Ireland offering, or to include it for the first time, in their future brochures and programmes.

The island of Ireland has seen good growth in visitors from Australia and New Zealand over the past few years, with a record 200,000+ people visiting in 2015.

Sofia Hansson, Tourism Ireland’s Manager Australia and New Zealand, said: “Our sales mission is a key element of our promotional programme in Australia and New Zealand.

“We will be highlighting a number of key themes at our workshops in each city – including the Causeway Coastal Route.

“The workshops will give our tourism partners from Northern Ireland a really good platform to inform and influence the travel professionals they meet about what Northern Ireland has to offer and, importantly, encourage them to include the destination in their future brochures and programmes.”

The Giant’s Causeway UNESCO World Heritage Site, located along the Causeway Coastal Route, is Northern Ireland’s leading visitor attraction with more than 850,000 visitors last year.